Two Great Endeavors

The tone of this blog is going to get a wee bit more serious now. I have Lupus, or more precisely, I have Mixed Connective Tissue Disease (MCTD), but that is a mouthful to say and takes longer to write. Lupus will do, thought MCTD will also work. I was originally diagnosed with Lupus in 1985. Sometime around 1990 I developed problems with swallowing and that lead to the diagnosis of Mixed Connective Tissue Disease. The swallowing problem was successfully treated, however, I will be on prilosec or similar drug the rest of my life and I need to do the self care stuff one needs to do when one has G.E.R.D.

I share this information with the world in this blog in the hope that as people follow how I deal with MCTD and also how I deal with seminary, they may learn some things that will help them in their own life. The lessons I learn from these two great endeavors: optimizing my health in the face of serious chronic disease and being formed in seminary, to have carry over for regular folk in ordinary life.

One lesson I am learning from MCTD is life is very precious. This is a wondrous truth that good for all folk to enter into and live out of. It is not just good; it is really quite amazing and at times quite fun. I will expand on this later but for now, I want to post this and get on with my day. I have an appointment with my internist today and we will discuss how to coordinate the committee of doctors I now have providing my care. That is one of the down sides of Lupus or MCTD. These diseases can affect multiple organ systems and sometimes you do end up with needing committee of specialists to provide for your care. Making sure they are all taking to each other can be a challenged. I am in the Kaiser system and all my docs are Kaiser docs so in theory they should all have access to my one medical record. I have yet to verify that and will do that today and tomorrow with the two docs I will be seeing. Stay tune.